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Mid-Holocene Social Interaction in Melanesia: New Evidence from Hammer-Dressed Obsidian Stemmed Tools

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Mid-Holocene Social Interaction in Melanesia: New Evidence from Hammer-Dressed Obsidian Stemmed Tools Mid-Holocene Social Interaction in Melanesia: New Evidence from Hammer-Dressed Obsidian Stemmed Tools ROBIN TORRENCE, PAMELA SWADLING, NINA KONONENKO, WALLACE AMBROSE, PIP RATH, AND MICHAEL D. GLASCOCK introduction Proposals that large-scale interaction and ceremonial exchange in the Pacific region began during the time of Lapita pottery (c. 3300–2000 b.p.) (e.g., Friedman 1981; Hayden 1983; Kirch 1997; Spriggs 1997) are seriously challenged by the extensive areal distribution of a class of retouched obsidian artifacts dated to the early and middle Holocene (c. 10,000–3300 b.p.) and known as ‘‘stemmed tools’’ (Araho et al. 2002). Find spots of obsidian stemmed tools stretch from mainland New Guinea to Bougainville Island and include the Trobriand Islands, various islands in Manus province, New Britain and New Ireland (Araho et al. 2002; Golson 2005; Specht 2005; Swadling and Hide 2005) (Fig. 1). Although other forms of tanged and waisted stone tool are known in Melanesia (e.g., Bulmer 2005; Fredericksen 1994, 2000; Golson 1972, 2001), the two types defined by Araho et al. (2002) as ‘‘stemmed tools’’ comprise distinctive classes because they usually have deep notches that delineate very well-defined and pronounced tangs. Type 1 stemmed tools are made from prismatic blades and have large and clearly demarcated, oval-shaped tangs. In contrast, the Type 2 group is more vari- able.Itisdefinedprimarilybytheuseof Kombewa flakes (i.e., those removed fromthebulbarfaceofalargeflake)forthe blank form, as described in detail in Robin Torrence is Principal Research Scientist in Anthropology, Australian Museum, Sydney NSW, [email protected]; Pamela Swadling is a Visiting Research Fellow, Archaeol- ogy and Natural History, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, Can- berra ACT, [email protected]; Nina Kononenko is an ARC post-doctoral fellow in the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, University of Sydney, kononenko.nina@hotmail. com; Wallace Ambrose is a Visiting Research Fellow in Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, [email protected]; Pip Rath is a post-graduate student in the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, University of Sydney, Australia, [email protected]; Michael D. Glascock is Senior Research Scientist, Research Reac- tor Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA, [email protected]. Asian Perspectives,Vol.48,No.1( 2009 by the University of Hawai‘i Press. Fig. 1. Map showing the location of obsidian stemmed tools. With the exception of Garua Island, Willaumez Peninsula, and Mopir where numerous stemmed tools have been found, the symbols represent a single find spot. torrence et al. mid-holocene social interaction in melanesia 121 Araho et al. (2002). Since Kombewa technology is extremely rare in stone tool assemblages from Melanesia, this trait alone easily separates Type 2 stemmed tools from other retouched tools. The diagnostic characteristics of Type 1 and 2 stemmed tools with lengths generally greater than 750 mm clearly distinguish these tool types from other waisted or tanged chipped stone tools in this region. Examples of obsidian stemmed tools, mostly found in surface contexts, were reported decades ago (cf. Bulmer 2005; Golson 1972, 2001) but, lacking firm chronological context, their significance was not appreciated until relatively large numbers were recovered from stratified and well-dated deposits in recent excava- tions in New Britain, Papua New Guinea (e.g., Specht et al. 1988; Torrence et al. 1990). Their chronological assignment to the early and middle Holocene is based on their consistent recovery from radiocarbon-dated soils or from deposits within a well dated tephrastratigraphy and their absence in contexts dating to other peri- ods (Araho et al. 2002:62). In New Britain large stemmed tools are found in soils buried underneath either the radiocarbon-dated W-K1 volcanic tephra (c. 6160– 5740 b.p.) or the W-K2 tephra (3480–3160 b.p.) (Petrie and Torrence 2008). In contrast, Lapita pottery is always stratified above and therefore younger than the W-K2 tephra. Araho et al. (2002), Torrence (2003, 2004a), and Specht (2005) suggested that these large stemmed tools functioned as ceremonial valuables ‘‘to create and maintain social links between and within groups and to mark status di¤erences’’ (Araho et al. 2002:77). This hypothesis is based on the use of manufacturing techniques that require considerable e¤ort, skill, and care, and a raw material easily associated with specific, localized places, as well as the distinctive shapes, shini- ness, symmetry, and fragility of the tools. More recently, Specht (2005), Swadling and Hide (2005:307), and Pavlides (pers. comm.) have reported additional exam- ples. Together with Golson (2005), all these scholars have also proposed that the distributional data of obsidian stemmed tools, shell adzes, and mortars and pestles provide considerable tangible evidence for wide-scale social interaction during the mid-Holocene, long before the existence of Lapita pottery and colonization into Remote Oceania (cf. Torrence and Swadling 2008). Little is known about the social relationships that have been proposed as re- sponsible for the impressive spatial distribution of the stemmed tools. Did these artifacts circulate within a system of ceremonial exchange on the Willaumez Pen- insula, where most examples have been recorded (Fig. 1)? Were the far-flung casesmerelyrareleakagesfromthatsystem or was the entire region where they occur linked through social interaction, and if so, in what ways? We address these questions through a series of analyses stimulated by a newly reported obsidian stemmed tool from Biak Island in West Papua (Friede 2005:I, 41; II, 86) (Fig. 2). Research focused on three unusual characteristics of the Biak artifact has signifi- cantly altered our understanding of stemmed tools. Firstly, geochemical sourcing techniques identified the raw material as derived from obsidian outcrops in Manus rather than West New Britain where stemmed tools are common finds. Secondly, the highly unusual technique of hammer-dressing was used in its manufacture. Thirdly, the Biak provenience greatly extends the spatial distribution of stemmed tools. We consider the significance of these findings for social interaction during the mid-Holocene period and for Pacific prehistory in general. 122 asian perspectives . 48(1) . spring 2009 Fig. 2. Obsidian stemmed tool found on Biak: (left) hammer-dressing is visible both on the stem and on the middle of the blade; (right) hammer-dressing has obscured most of the original surface of the flake, but a portion is visible on the top left. Scale bar is 3 cm. (Photo by R. Torrence) biak tool The Biak tool clearly fits the criteria for a Type 2 obsidian stemmed artifact be- cause it was made from a large Kombewa flake and bears a prominent tang cre- ated by deep notches (Fig. 2). At 132 mm in length, it is within the range of the large Type 2 tools proposed as valuables (cf. Araho et al. 2002; Specht 2005:381; Torrence 2003, 2004b). Although the tool does not come from a secure archaeo- logical context, we believe that the distinctive similarity with the well-dated obsidian stemmed tools from New Britain is close enough to propose that the Biak tool belongs to the same typological group and therefore also dates to the mid-Holocene. The stem on the tool was first shaped by bifacial flaking on what was probably the proximal end of a large Kombewa flake. Irregularities created by the flaking were then partially removed by hammer-dressing. The direct, hard hammer blows created a uniformly even, but rough-textured, surface with numerous, small im- pact points (Fig. 3). Hammer-dressing has obscured flaking on the stem, except for several flat scars at the base. The hammer-dressing was also applied on both sides of the tool to surfaces that were originally smooth and shiny. On one flake surface the hammer-dressing is continuous with that on the stem (Fig. 2, right), torrence et al. mid-holocene social interaction in melanesia 123 Fig. 3. Close-up of hammer-dressing on the stem of the Biak tool. Scale bar is 2 cm. (Photo by R. Torrence) whereas on the other there is an isolated, circular patch of hammering on the blade of the tool (Fig. 2, left). As indicated by flake scars with di¤erent degrees of weathering, the tool has been extensively reworked. Areas of retouch around the entire working edge include two large, invasive, fresh scars struck from opposing sides, which stretch across much of the surface of one face (Fig. 2; right; cf. Specht 2005: Figs. 28.4, 28.5). John Friede (2005: II, 86), a private collector who kindly loaned the artifact to Swadling for analysis, reports that the new stemmed tool was ‘‘found in a cave on Biak Island with Japanese war relics.’’ We have no information about whether the tool was excavated or was found on the surface. It seems highly unlikely that the tool had been transported to the island by a Japanese soldier. Biak had been of 124 asian perspectives . 48(1) . spring 2009 little strategic importance to the Japanese until faced with the westward advance of the Allied forces along the coast of New Guinea. The island has no natural harbors and fresh water is not readily available. In an e¤ort to stop the advancing Allied forces, the Japanese decided to make Biak a key air base, as it was within fighter range of many existing air bases in Dutch New Guinea. Late in 1943, they began constructing airstrips in the southeastern part of the island on the coastal plain. The troops sent to protect and hold Biak did not come from the Pacific, but were sent from China (Smith 1953:280, 281, 299). Sketches by an American soldier show a range of defensive walls constructed in the Biak caves (Riegelman 1955).
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